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We didn't notice much difference between our November 2021 cruise on Spirit, vs our memories of other pre-COVID cruises. That said, the ship wasn't full so that may have made a difference. We'll have to see what our expedition on Silver Wind is like in June. Definitely NOT a fan of the included excursions on the classic cruises, for a pumped-up fare. We can usually do twice what they offer for half the price, on our own. And the D2D doesn't hold much appeal for us either. So these changes may affect how many or few future bookings we make, especially if they become permanent.

Enjoy it! I'd say, "Stay dry!" but that could be taken the wrong way...

Wow. That was fast.

For a monthly subscription fee, of course!

Hey @Lois R, we grabbed a bottle of Barr Hill gin yesterday and tried it in a G&T. The honey flavor was intense and very enjoyable. It went well with a Mediterranean tonic but I bet it would be great in other cocktails too. Looking forward to enjoying the rest, and thanks for the recommendation!

Gnome12, just saw your reply as I was typing mine, so apologize for the duplication The destination definitely matters as well. For example, if you're going to Lyon the trains leave from Gare de Lyon. There are a number of major train stations in Paris - Gare du Nord, Gare de Lyon, Gare Montparnasse, Gare de l'Est, and several others. The closest train station may not be the one you need to get to, depending on where you want to go. Have a look at the French train website (https://www.sncf-connect.com/) and check some itineraries for where you want to go, and where those trains leave from. Also if you've never taken trains in France, The Man in Seat 61 has great information about trains in Europe and beyond. Here is the part of his website dealing with trains in France: https://www.seat61.com/train-travel-in-france.htm

Looks like an open-and-shut case of Peyronie's disease to me.

Air travel is a complete mess right now. I always book my own air just to "keep control" but it's been such a headache lately. Have spent a busy few weeks keeping up with itinerary changes. We fly to Finland next month. Last week KLM suddenly canceled the last leg of our journey, from AMS to HEL. So now we have an 8-hour layover in AMS to look forward to. And we get to Helsinki 6+h later than we thought we would. Well, I guess Schipol is lovely this time of year... If we could trust that we could get back in on time we'd hop the train to the city for lunch. But I'm not confident about that plan. And today I got an email about the air we've booked for our March cruise, Bali to Singapore. Korean Air has changed the flight schedule of their JFK-ICN leg, so our nice connection from JFK-ICN-DPS just evaporated, and now we have exactly zero minutes to make the connection in ICN. Guess that won't work very well! Luckily AMEX was efficient today and it only took 20 minutes on the phone to get that changed. But instead of a leisurely 12N Saturday departure from JFK, we now have to finish work Friday, drive to JFK that night, and leave at 12:50AM Saturday (late Friday night). And now we have a 10-hour connection in ICN. Oh well. We get to Bali 90 minutes earlier than we were originally scheduled... I'm checking things frequently because I'm sure that these will not be the last changes.

Agree, Valencia is hard to visit by cruise ship. Too big and too spread out. At least SS had a shuttle to/from the Old City which helped significantly.

I'm sorry QSS. They leave a big hole in your heart.

Ponant is a French cruise line which sometimes partners with Tauck or Smithsonian, to charter a voyage. On those "Tauck Charters" or "Smithsonian Charters" the experience is probably different from a regular Ponant cruise. I suppose each has its merits and fans. We have only done one Ponant cruise and it was not a charter. We very much enjoyed the small ship experience and found the food to be quite nice. I would agree that it's not up to Oceania standards based on our memory from those cruises - but we have not sailed on O since 2008 so our experience is quite dated. I did a full trip report and AussieBoyTX has done a few as well. You might get an idea of the food offerings and the overall feel of the cruise from those, and maybe that will help you figure out if Ponant is a good fit for you. Agree w/ mauibabes though - if you're expecting the same amenities as a large ship, you will probably be disappointed. It's a different experience.

Our go-to cheap but nice NZ Savvy is Matua. Oyster Bay is good too but a little more expensive, which matters when you buy it by the case!

When we were there it was about 3000 MGA/USD, so I spent a whopping $5. Now I could have had that bottle for much less, as it's about 4200/1. We were had! If you have experience with bans, I hear that a certain website is looking for mods...

Speaking of petrol station plonk. I did tell you earlier about my experience at the gas station in Madagascar with their resident sommelier. He was impressed that I chose the 16,000 Ar bottle of wine, which he said was one of the better ones on offer...

Chris keeps me from buying cheap swill, as space in the wine checks is not unlimited. Otherwise a plebe like myself, with an unsophisticated palate? I'd never know the difference...

We always have way more luggage allowance than we need. Except when we bring the wine checks and fill them up. Then at least, we get our money's worth on the trip home!

So the question is... Is that guy who is waving to you actually wearing pants? Or is the Silver Moon in danger of being mooned?

Maybe for an overnight trip...

Have a great cruise! Looking forward to virtually revisiting some of the ports that we visited last year on Silver Spirit.

Glad to see you posting about this region. We looked at a Douro cruise a few years ago but decided to visit the area by land instead, as there were too many great sites that we wanted to visit, but were not included on the river cruise. Plus we can't sit still long enough to enjoy a full week of scenic cruising down the river. Your post reinforces what we thought. The land trip turned out being one of the best we've done. Agree about the Portuguese wines. They are an incredible value considering what you get. On the first day of our trip we sat down in a wine bar for a late lunch and I looked at their list, thinking that the prices were a little bit expensive for a glass of wine, but hey we're on vacation... Then I realized that the price was by the bottle! Are they serving only Douro wines or are the wines from all regions of Portugal? I only remember one wine that we weren't crazy about, which wasn't surprising because it only cost E2.99 for the bottle... The only reason we bought it was because the winery was named "JP" and we couldn't resist. We had some fantastic meals on our trip so if the food on the ship isn't representative of that, it's a shame, because there is great food to be had in Portugal. Have you tried one of their cod dishes yet? If so, do as the locals do; they pair it with a light red. Seems counterintuitive but it works. I think that in general, most of the world has had it with masking. We have to wear them at work but in public, that genie is out of the bottle and I just don't see it coming back. Hope you don't get covid, but if you do, I hope it's mild. Enjoy the rest of your trip. PS for some reason there are two threads with this same post by you. You might ask the host to combine them into one thread.

We spent two nights there last month. It sure was beautiful!

Sure, though I have not cooked with chicken breast cutlets in probably 10 years. I much prefer thighs. But either should work. No recipe. I sprinkled the cutlets with salt, pepper, and a dusting of flour then fried them in olive oil. Then I sautéed the mushrooms with thyme sprigs until they released their liquid, added some fresh rosemary, oregano, green onions, and garlic, then a bit of chicken broth. A good pour of Marsala, then pop the cutlets back in the pan to soak up the juices, and serve over your choice of pasta. I used orchiette. If I were using chicken breast cutlets I'd be more careful not to overcook them I guess. And maybe add more butter? Boneless skinless thighs are more forgiving. The wine pairing was a heavy Italian white from Lugana.

Finally a 3-day weekend! Definitely glad for that. We came home from Canada with Covid 3 weeks ago. The first week was OK; some low-grade fevers, cough and sniffles. We both took the Paxlovid and thought that we had recovered fairly quickly. And the extra week off was wonderful! We went back to work the week after, once we tested negative. It was a bit of a challenge because we were both still very tired. That finally got better by the end of last week. But it's the gift that keeps on giving! Rebound this week. Lots of stuffiness and sneezing along with sinus pressure. No fevers, luckily. Finally today that seems to have passed. I am somewhat relieved by new data suggesting that "rebound" is actually a good thing, and a sign of a robust immune response. But what's next? I need some more rest. The good news is that we probably can wait a few weeks for the bivalent booster shot - since we kind of just had one! So we'll get that a week or so before we travel to Finland. A bit of veal Marsala for dinner last night... With a whole sage leaf, fried in butter, for a garnish.

The website for the port of Quebec says you're docking at Pier 21. FWIW. https://www.portquebec.ca/en/cruises/vessel-schedules/seasonal-schedule

Mine went on extended holiday some time in 2020 and has not been seen since!